Universally pivotal tow hitch apparatus

ABSTRACT

Tow hitch apparatus for connecting a trailing vehicle onto a towing vehicle having a tow hitch thereon characterized by a tongue, a coupling head connected to a forward end of the tongue, a draft member connected to the trailing vehicle, and a universally pivotal connection means for connecting the tongue with the draft member whereby the coupling head can be connected with the tow hitch regardless of misalignment, either vertically or laterally. In specific embodiments, a winch and cable are provided for effecting alignment after the coupling head is connected; locking means are provided for locking the tongue and draft member into alignment; the tongue comprises telescopically mounted members; and locking and limit means are provided for control of the draft length of the telescopically mounted members.

United States Patent [191 Murr 1 UNIVERSALLY PIVOTAL TOW HITCH APPARATUS[76] Inventor: Julius W. Murr, 200 Huntington,

Euless, Tex. 76039 [22] Filed: Aug. 23, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 173,782

[ June 19, 1973 Primary Examiner- 1x0 Friaglia Attorney-William T.Wofford, Robert A. Felsman, James C. Fails and Arthur F. Zobal 5'7"ABSTRACT Tow hitch apparatus for connecting a trailing vehicle onto atowing vehicle having a tow hitch thereon char acterized by a tongue, acoupling head connected to a forward end of the tongue, a draft memberconnected to the trailing vehicle, and a universally pivotal connectionmeans for connecting the tongue with the draft member whereby thecoupling head can be connected with the tow hitch regardless ofmisalignment, either vertically or laterally. ln specific embodiments, awinch and cable are provided for effecting alignment after the couplinghead is connected; locking means are pro vided for locking the tongueand draft member into alignment; the tongue comprises telescopicallymounted members; and locking and limit means are provided for control ofthe draft length of the telescopically mounted members.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures UNIVERSALLY PIVOTAL TOW HITCH APPARATUSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to tow hitch apparatus for connecting a trailing vehicle onto atowing vehicle. More particularly, this invention relates to tow hitchapparatus for comparatively lightweight trailers which must be more orless frequently attached to a towing vehicle such as an ordinaryautomobile, pickup, or farm tractor.

2. Description of the Prior Art Tow hitch devices of the general natureof this invention have been well known for a long period of time. Thereare,.however, many situations in which the prior art tow hitch deviceshave not been satisfactory. For example, the tow hitch devices of theprior art have required very accurate placement of a tow hitch on therear of the towing vehicle in order to facilitate connection of thetowed vehicle, even when the coupling head of the towed vehicle can belifted by only one person. Frequently, the person making the connectionis the operator of the tow vehicle, and he is required to make aplurality of tries to effect connection. With heavy trailing vehiclesthe draft member must be provided with jacks, draw screws, and the liketo take care of the weight of the draft member and the part of thetrailing vehicle bearing thereon; make even more imperative accuratealignment of the tow hitch and the coupling head.

The prior art has provided devices which are manipulatable in one plane;such as, the vertical plane; to help relieve this objection; these priorart devices have not been completely satisfactory, however, since theywere limited to uniplanar operation with respect to the draft member ofthe trailing vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial isometric view oftowed and towing vehicles, illustrating one embodiment of thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is a partial isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, withtongue unextended.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 with the tongueextended.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 3 in the draftposition.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It is an object of this inventionto provide a tow hitch apparatus that obviates the disadvantages of theprior art structure and enables effecting a coupling intermetrailingvehicle in the form of boat and trailer and 17. Pickup 13 has a towhitch in the form ofa ball hitch l9 thereon. Tow hitch apparatus 11comprises a tongue 21, a coupling head 23 connected to the forward endof the tongue, a draft member 25 connected with the trailer 17, and aconnection means 27 for connecting diate a trailing vehicle and a towingvehicle regardless of whether or not there is exact alignment of acoupling head on the trailing vehicle and a tow hitch on the towingvehicle.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a tow hitch apparatusthat facilitates compensating for dis- .tance separation, as well asmisalignment between the the tongue with the draft member. Asillustrated, the tow hitch apparatus 11 also includes, as a means forforcing alignment, a serially connected flexible lineal member such ascable 29 and a retraction means such as winch 31 for effecting alignmentof the tongue 21 and the draft member 25 after connection has been madeto the towing vehicle such as pickup 13. The cable 29 and the winch 31are serially connected with the draft member 25 and with the tonguerearwardly of the connection means 27.

The ball hitch l9 and the coupling head 23 are con ventional ball andsocket hitches that are commercially available; and typify the types oftow hitch connection means which may be employed for connecting a trailing vehicle onto a towing vehicle. Any of the conventional tow hitches;such as, mating members having matching holes through which a pin may beinserted; may be employed, if desired, instead of the ball and sockettype tow hitch. The coupling head 23 is connected to the forward end ofthe tongue 21 by any conventional means such as nuts and bolts 33, FIG.2.

The tongue 21 comprises a plurality of telescopically mounted membersincluding at least forward member 35 and rearward member 37. The forwardmember 35 is extensible with respect to the rearward member 37, asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, such that the coupling head 23 can bemoved a distance to connect with the ball hitch 19 without having tomove the pickup 13 or trailer 17. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4,however, the tongue 21 has a normal draft, or pulling, length in whichthe forward member 35 is retracted, or moved rearwardly, with respect tothe rearward member 37. An automatic locking means 39 is provided forautomatically locking the members 35 and 37 in the tongue 21 at adesired draft length, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, when the forwardmember 35 is moved rearwardly with respect to the rearward member 37.

The automatic locking means 39 comprises a lever 41 that is mounted forpivotal movement about a suitable mounting shaft 43. A biasing meanssuch as spring 45 urges the lever 41 into the locked position. The lever41 has a protrusion 47; FIGS. 2 and 3, for engaging a slot or recess inthe forward member 35 so as to automatically lock it at a desired draftposition when the slot or recess is emplaced beneath the protrusion 47.The protrusion 47 is moved inwardly in response to urging by the spring45 to engage the slot as illustrated in FIG. 2. On the other hand, therearward end 48 of the lever 41 may be pushed inwardly to remove theprotrusion 47 from the slot, as is illustrated in FIG. 3. A limit meansin the form of a second flexible lineal member such as chain 49 isemployed to limit forward movement of the forward member with respect tothe rearward member and provide a safety factor in addition to anymechanical stops that may be located on the telescopically mountedmembers 35 and 37.

The draft member 25 is a conventionally employed member having therequisite structrual strength to bear its portion of the weight of thetrailing vehicle and effect the desired towing thereof. Any of theconventionally employed shapes and strengths of members may be employedfor draft member 25.

The connection means 27 connects the forward end of the draft member 25with the tongue 21 medially with the ends of the tongue. The connectionmeans 27 effects a universally pivotal connection such that the couplinghead 23 may be moved vertically and laterally along any axis to effectconnection with the ball hitch 19. The universal movement is effected bya first portion of the connection means allowing movement vertically, asillustrated by vertical arrows 51 and a second portion which allowsmovement horizontally, or laterally, as indicated by lateral arrows 53.The first portion of the connection means 27 comprises a verticallymovable member 71 that is mounted for pivotal movement about bolt shaft65 for effecting the requisite movement reciprocally in a verticalplane. The second portion of the connection means 27 comprises boltshaft 63 carried by the tongue 21, penetrating rotatably throughvertically movable member 71, and having a suitable lock nut 73 forfastening so as to allow the requisite rotational movement in ahorizontal plane, or lateral movement. Thus, it can be seen, thatthrough simultaneous movement vertically and horizontally, the couplinghead 23 may be moved along any azimuth with respect to its alignedposition to effect the desired connection. The ability to move thecoupling head 23 along any azimuth with respect to its aligned position,conjunctively with being able to move the forward member 35 with respectto the rearward member 37 of the tongue 21, facilitates making aninterconnection with the ball hitch 19, regardless of misalignment anddistance separation therebetween.

As illustrated, the winch 31 is a ratchet winch that may be ratchetlocked for safety once the alignment of the tongue and the draft memberhas been effected, as by drawing the cable 29 onto the winch, asillustrated in FIG. 4.

A locking means 55 is provided for locking the tongue 21 and the draftmember 25 together. As illustrated, the locking means 55 comprises pin57 that is connected with the draft member 25 to prevent being lost, andaperture 59 in mount 61. The mount 61 is carried by the rearward member37 rearwardly of the connection means 27 to enable the winch 31 to applya torsional force about the bolt shaft 63 and a pivotal force about boltshaft 65 to effect the desired alignment of 'the tongue 21 and the draftmember 25. The draft member 25 has an aperture 69 through which mount 61protrudes when the tongue 21 and draft member 25 are aligned, asillustrated in FIG. 4. The pin 57 is then inserted through the aperture59 in the mount 61 to prevent its moving downwardly through the aperture69 in the draft member 25. In this way, alignment is maintained both bythe ratchet-locked winch 31 and by the locking means 55.

In operation, the towing vehicle, such as pickup 13 is backed by theoperator to place ball hitch 19 in the vicinity of the coupling head 23carried on trailer 17. In the prior art apparatus, if the ball hitch 19were not closely adjacent, and in some instances immediately beneath thecoupling head 23, the operator would have to reposition the towingvehicle. In this invention, however, the lever 41 of the automaticlocking means is released and the coupling head 23 is moved in thedesired azimuth for the necessary distance to effect connection withball hitch 19, as delineated hereinbefore. To properly effect theconnection, the connection means 27 should be at least as low as theball hitch 19. Ordinarily, the same vehicle is employed for towing thetrailer 17 to and from the location where used and no problem isencountered in this regard. It is advisable, however, to provideclearance between the connection means 27 and the surface, as by theillustrated and adjustable support wheel, to allow the desired universalmovement of the coupling head 23. To effect the desired movement of thecoupling head, the ratchet of the winch 31 is released so that the cable29 may be played out as required. After connection has been establishedbetween the coupling head 23 and the ball hitch 19, the winch 31 may berotated to winch-in the cable 29 to effect the necessary alignment ofthe draft member 25 and the tongue 21. After the desired alignmentbetween the tongue 21 and the draft member 25 has been effected, themount 61 will protrude through the aperture 69. The pin 57 of thelocking means is inserted through the aperture 59 to further lock themount 61 in place. The ratchet winch is also ratchet-locked, therebyeffecting a second locking in the aligned position.

Once the trailer has been towed to a place where the pickup 13 may bemoved rearwardly with respect to the trailer 17; the rearward movementis effected, allowing the protrusion 47 to latch into the slot or recessin the forward member 35 and effect the desired draft length of thetongue 21 for towing the vehicle on the highway or the like. As can beseen in FIG. 3, the chain 49 provides tensional reinforcement of theforward member 35 during its extended position such that additionaltension may be effected for towing the trailer 17 out of sand or thelike, without the danger of damaging or knocking off any mechanicallimits on the forward member 35 engaging the rearward member 37.

The term telescopically mounted is employed herein in its generic senseto mean that the forward member 35 is movable reciprocallylongitudinally with respect to the rearward member 37 and is notintended to require that one member be mounted substantially completelyinternally with respect to the other. The exact form of the reciprocalmovement will depend on the form of the structure of the members 35 and37; for example, where the members are tubular goods such as the squaretubes illustrated, or cylindrically shaped tubes, the telescopicmounting may be true in its limited sense. On the other hand, wherel-shaped members or angle shaped members are employed, the reciprocalmovement may not be movement of one member internally of another.

The materials of construction ordinarily employed in this art may beemployed herein and no exotic new materials are necessary.

Although the invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has beenmade only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details ofconstruction and the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. Tow hitch apparatus for connecting a trailing vehicle onto a towingvehicle having a tow hitch thereon comprising:

a. a tongue;

b. a coupling head connected to the forward end of said tongue;

c. a draft member connected to said trailing vehicle;

d. connection means for connecting said tongue with said draft member;said connection means connecting the forward end of said draft memberwith said tongue medially of the ends of said tongue and effecting auniversally pivotal connection such that said coupling head may be movedvertically and laterally with respect to its aligned position to effectconnection with the tow hitch even though the draft member is notaligned therewith; and

e. alignment forcing means connected with said draft member and saidtongue rearwardly of the point of connection of said connection meanswith said tongue and having a mechanical advantage for forcing lateraland vertical alignment between said tongue and said draft member.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said alignment forcing meanscomprises a serially connected flexible lineal member and retractionmeans for effecting alignment of said tongue and said draft member.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said retraction means comprises aratchet winch that may be ratchet locked for safety after said linealmember has been retracted to affect the desired alignment of said tongueand said draft member.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein a locking means is provided foradditionally locking said tongue and said draft member together oncethey are aligned and brought together.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tongue comprises a plurality ofmembers comprising at least a forward member and a rearward membermounted for relative reciprocal movement of said forward member withrespect to said rearward member, and automatic locking means is providedfor automatically locking said members at a desired draft length whenthe forward member is moved rearwardly with respect to the rearwardmember.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said connection means comprisesfirst and second portions that allow movement of forward and rearwardends of said tongue vertically and laterally for connecting saidcoupling head onto said tow hitch and for effecting alignment ofsaid'tongue with said draft member regardless of the azimuth of said towhitch with respect to the longitudinal axis of said draft member.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said first portion comprises avertically movable member that is mounted for pivotal movement about ashaft; said second portion comprises a shaft carried by said tongue andpenetrating rotatably through said vertically movable member and havingfastening means; and wherein a locking means is provided for lockingsaid tongue and said draft member together once they are aligned andbrought together.

1. Tow hitch apparatus for connecting a trailing vehicle onto a towingvehicle having a tow hitch thereon comprising: a. a tongue; b. acoupling head connected to the forward end of said tongue; c. a draftmember connected to said trailing vehicle; d. connection means forconnecting said tongue with said draft member; said connection meansconnecting the forward end of said draft member with said tonguemedially of the ends of said tongue and effecting a universally pivotalconnection such that said coupling head may be moved vertically andlaterally with respect to its aligned position to effect connection withthe tow hitch even though the draft member is not aligned therewith; ande. alignment forcing means connected with said draft member and saidtongue rearwardly of the point of connection of said connection meanswith said tongue and having a mechanical advantage for forcing lateraland vertical alignment between said tongue and said draft member.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said alignment forcing means comprises aserially connected flexible lineal member and retraction means foreffecting alignment of said tongue and said draft member.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein said retraction means comprises a ratchetwinch that may be ratchet locked for safety after said lineal member hasbeen retracted to affect the desired alignment of said tongue and saiddraft member.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein a locKing means isprovided for additionally locking said tongue and said draft membertogether once they are aligned and brought together.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said tongue comprises a plurality of members comprisingat least a forward member and a rearward member mounted for relativereciprocal movement of said forward member with respect to said rearwardmember, and automatic locking means is provided for automaticallylocking said members at a desired draft length when the forward memberis moved rearwardly with respect to the rearward member.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said connection means comprises first andsecond portions that allow movement of forward and rearward ends of saidtongue vertically and laterally for connecting said coupling head ontosaid tow hitch and for effecting alignment of said tongue with saiddraft member regardless of the azimuth of said tow hitch with respect tothe longitudinal axis of said draft member.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6wherein said first portion comprises a vertically movable member that ismounted for pivotal movement about a shaft; said second portioncomprises a shaft carried by said tongue and penetrating rotatablythrough said vertically movable member and having fastening means; andwherein a locking means is provided for locking said tongue and saiddraft member together once they are aligned and brought together.